Invitational and Appreciation Night set for the weekend

LEXI BARROS

TO THE BUCKET: Nyjah Porcher drives the lane earlier this season.

Photos courtesy of CCRI

Posted
Thursday, January 10, 2013 1:00 pm

The CCRI men’s and women’s basketball teams will host the 2013 CCRI Basketball Invitational this Saturday and Sunday. There will be four games each day during the exciting weekend. In addition, the CCRI department of athletics will also be holding its fourth annual Appreciation Night on Saturday at halftime of the men’s game. This year CCRI will be honoring the 2011-12 academic year season success of the following CCRI teams and individuals on this evening:

The CCRI indoor track team began the 2013 season with their first Meet at the Roxbury Tiger Open on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass. The Knights were highlighted by Steven Vazquez (Central Falls) and Bobby Allen (Cranston) who won their individual events and qualified for the National Championship at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Vazquez won the high jump with a CCRI record leap of six feet eight inches surpassing the record of 6’4” set by Evan McGill in 2002. Allen began the season right where he left off last season, by winning the mile in 4:13.76. He also came back to win the 3000 in 8:42.74. Both are qualifying times for nationals.

Other Knights and Lady Knights also competed and did very well in their first meet of the year. On the men’s side, Jordan Barboza-Simpkins (Warwick) was fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5’10.75”, Carlos Diaz (Smithfield) was 13th in the 200 in 24.13 seconds, Ryan Rotondo (Cranston) was 18th in 24.39 and Jarrame Morris was 33rd in 25.91. In the 800 Daniel Duquette (North Attleboro, Mass.) was 22nd in 2:06.99 and Joseph Gareri (Uxbridge, Mass.) was 31st in 2:39.91.

In the men’s mile David Palkovic (Middletown) was 25th in 4:57.19. In the field events, Colin Cabral (Cumberland, RI) finished 10th in the shot put with a throw of 11.88 and Kevin Redmond (South Kingstown) was 11th with a throw of 11.60m. In the men’s 55 Rotondo finished 15th in 6.94 seconds, Diaz was 25th in 7.06 seconds and Morris was 24th in 7.31 seconds.

On the women’s side in the shot put Cassandra Gustafson (Pawtucket, RI) was ninth with a throw of 8.86. In the women’s 200 Akande Boluwatife (Lagos, Nigeria) was 33rd in 34.40 seconds, and she then came back to finish 25th in the 55 in 8.92 seconds. Olivia Emerick (Cranston) was 30th in the 200 in 29.87 seconds. In the women’s 800, Emerick was 12th in 2:47.67 and Meaghan Shanley (Warwick) was 13th in 3:31.28.

Second half surge vaults Knights over Vikings

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team hosted the Vikings of Mercer County Community College form Trenton, N.J. for an afternoon game on Saturday. The Knights defeated the Vikings 79-60. With the victory, the Knights improved to 10-6 on the season.

The Knights and Vikings played very tough defense in the first half, holding the score down to just 28-22 at halftime. The Knights ratcheted-up the defensive pressure even more and extended their lead to double-digits 45-33 with 12:41 remaining. They extended their lead to 20 points with just 3:30 remaining and they cruised to victory.

CCRI was led by their four sophomore captains: Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) scored 14 points with six rebounds and four steals, his backcourt mate Bryan Yarce (Cranston) had 13 points and six assists, Isaac Medeiros (Johnston) scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds with a blocked shot and Steve Bevilacqua (Exeter) scored 10 points. Also helping the Knights was freshman Jerome Harris (Hartford, Conn.) with seven points and six rebounds and Pat Marchand (Cranston) with eight points.

“It was a nice team win for our young guys today,” CCRI head coach Rick Harris said. “It took us a while but we got in gear and used our defense to create scoring opportunities. We played very good defense the entire game and that was very encouraging.”

Lady Knights’ win streak snapped by ASA

The No. 11 CCRI Lady Knights basketball team traveled to St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y. to play the 10-3 Division I Avengers of ASA College earlier this week. The Lady Knights had their seven-game win streak snapped by the Avengers. With the loss, the Lady Knights fell to 14-2 on the season, still their best start since 2005.

The Avenger’s size and defensive pressure was just too much for the Lady Knights to overcome. ASA held the Lady Knights to their second lowest point total of the season. CCRI went into the half with an 11-point deficit, trailing 35-24.

Though CCRI was outsized, they got a spark from their smallest player in stature, Treedy Ward (Boynton, Beach, Fla.), who scored 10 first half points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. The Lady Knights were able to cut the lead to as few as six points in the second half, but that’s as close as they would get.

“We didn't come ready to play today,” CCRI head coach Kate Lynch said. “We needed to rebound the basketball, get back in transition and defend the drive. We didn't do any of those well. You can't expect to win a game against a team like ASA by not executing those things."